Adjustable desk or table combination.



S. H. HOLMES.

ADJUSTABLE DESK 0R VTABLE COMBINATION.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10. 1915.

1 1 89,949 Patented July 4 1916.

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STANLEY I-I. nomvinsfor BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

ADJUSTABLE'DESK OR TABLE COMBINATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed August 10, 1915. Serial No. 44,803.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY H. HoLMEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Desk or Table Combinations, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in adjustable desk or table combinations, and the object of my improvement is to produce a, desk with metallic corner and clamping pieces such that the side pieces forming the body of the desk may be fitted thereto simply by cutting off the end thereof in an ordinary manner so as to provide a square end, which will provide sockets at the corners in which the corner posts or legs are adjustably secured,the said socket extending upwardly through the entire depthofthe said body, and involving a form of construction that may in some cases be applied to the construction of tables and other articles.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a desk embodying my invention, one of the possible positions of one of the legs being indicated by broken lines. Fig. 2 is a side elevation'of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view, with the back, top and corner removed. Fig. 4 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on the line 00 w of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 3 y of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the corner shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the blank for the main. corner member. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the auxiliary corner member. i

The desk shown in Fig. 1, embodying my invention, comprises a body composed of a pair of end pieces 10, a rearpiece 12, and a front piece 13 which are held together by the outer main corner member 14 and the inner auxiliary corner member 15 in a peculiar manner to be described involving at each corner a clamping socket below the said body for clamping the leg 16 and formed by the lower portion of the main corner member 14, and a receiving socket within the said body and in extension of the said clamping socket for receiving andhousing the upper end portion of the said leg 16.

As shown the body of the desk is provided with a bottom 17 and the top is closed by a back top 18 at the rear portion and a hinged cover 19 at the front portion. The hinged cover 19 is at an inclination, such as is'usual in school desks, so that the rear portion of the body is deeper than the front, the rear body piece 12 being made of correspondingly greater depth than the front body piece 13.

I prefer, as shown, to have the corner members extend upwardly for the full depth 0f the body at the particular corner at which it is located, and for this reason the corner members at the rear corners are of greater over-all length than those at the front corners. 'Except for such differences as involved in the lengtln'the corner members at the front and rear are similar, so that a description of one generally will apply to the other. The corner members shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are rear corner members, and comprise the main corner member 14 and the auxiliary member 15.

As shown in Fig, 7 the blank for the main corner member comprises an elongated piece of sheet metal that is divided by the longitudinal axis 20 into two similar wings, which are symmetrical relatively to the said axis, and are bent at right angles along the same. The said wings are divided by a transverse cut21 extending inwardly from the outer edge into an upper socket portion 22 and a lower socket portion 23. The upper socket portion is provided with a plurality of holes 24 for bolts or screws 25. The said screw holes 24 may be positioned in ears 26 in extension of the body portion of the Wings 22. The wings are of depth corresponding to that of the body portion with which it is engaged, as mentioned, and form the outer portion of the receiving socket 27 within the desk body for receiving and housing the upper end portion of the leg 16.

The lower socket portion 23 is divided by a longitudinal folding line 28 into an outer wallportion 29 that is a fit for the side wall of the leg 16 and a clamping wing portion 30 which is of slightly less width than that of the inner wall of the leg 16 with which it engages, so as to leave a little free space 31 between the opposed edges of the two coperating clamping wing portions 30. An ear 32 connected to the free edge of the clamping wing portion 30al0ng the folding line 33 is provided with'a hole fora clamping bolt 35. The two lower socket portions 23 are suitable for being folded along the longitudinal axis 20 and folding line 28 to fit around the body portion of the leg 16 to form the clamping socket 36. The ears 32 are bent along the folding line 33 parallel with a diagonal, and in spaced relation, suitably to effect a clamping pressure on the leg 16 by means of the clamping wings SO and the bolt 35 and nut 37. The end pieces 10, rear piece 12, and front piece 13 of the body are cut off squarely and of suitable length to be overlapped by the ears 26 and engaged with the bolts 25 that are entered in the holes 24.

The auxiliary corner members 15 comprise in the plan shown in Fig. 6 a rectangular piece of sheet metal that is divided by the longitudinal axis 38 into two wings each of which comprises a body portion 39 at the inner portion, and an edge strip portion a0 connected thereto along the longitudinal folding line a1, and has holes 4C2 for the bolts 25. The blank for the auxiliary corner member 15 is folded along the axis 38 at a right angle to fit over the inner corner of the leg 16 and the edge strip 40 is folded outwar lly along the folding line 41 in parallelism with the outer corner wing 22 and in spaced relation thereto corresponding to the thickness of the particular body piece with which it is engaged, and with the holes in registration with the holes 24 in the ears 26. The bolts 25 pass through the ears 26, body piece 10, 12, and 13 as the case may be, and the edge strip 10 and are provided with nuts 43 on the inner ends, suitably to effect a clamping of these parts, so that no other securing means therefor are required. lhus the upper, receiving socket 27 formed by the outer corner wings 22 on the outer side, covering two sides of the legs 16 and on the inner sides by the ends of the body pieces and the body portions 39 of the auxiliary corner members. The body portion 39 of the auxiliary corner members 15 are of the full depth of the interior of the desk body, so that the upper receiving socket 27 is protected on the said interior of the desk for the full depth thereof and the same will be free from obstruction by books or other articles placed within the desk body. Furthermore, it will be noter that the clamping portion of the main corner piece is positioned below the body of the desk, so that an adjustment for the legs corresponding to somewhat more than the depth of the body of the desk is provided.

My corner member construction can also be utilized in the construction of tables or stands in which the body is of box structure, composed of interconnected side or body pieces.

1 claim as my invention:

In combination in desk, a box-like body for housing books and other articles having side walls and a bottom, the said side walls being composed of body pieces each of which is slightly shorter than the side wall of which it-forms a part, and corner members at the junctions of the adjacent body pieces, the said corner members comprising each an outer piece that extends around the outer side of the corner and an auxiliary piece on the inner side, the ends of the said body pieces being interposed between and secured to opposed portions of an outer piece and an auxiliary piece, the said outer piece and auxiliary piece at each corner being separated by space suitable to serve as a leg receiving socket, the said outer pieces having clamping means for clamping a leg received in the said socket, and the said auxiliary piece in each case extending the full depth of the body piece to which it is connected, suitably to reinforce the said body piece for the full depth thereof, and to serve as a closure for the socket for the full depth thereof, and to serve as a barrier between the said socket and the interior of the said box-like structure.

11 NLEY H. HOLMES. lVitnesses Room F. Homers, N. L. GoonnLL.

Qepiee oi this patent may be obtained :20; five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner oi Patents, Washtngten, 153. 5." 

